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- The Collision of Japanese Anime and Tarot Passions
- Rating Anime Tarot Card Decks
- The 5 Most Interesting Anime Tarot Card Decks
- 1. Mystical Manga Tarot Deck
- 2. Traditional Manga Tarot Deck
- 3. Shadowscapes Tarot Deck
- 4. Witchling Academy Tarot Deck
- 5. Manga Tarot by Lo Scarabeo
- Recommended Products to Add to Anime Tarot Decks
- Spreading Tips for Anime Decks
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Interesting Anime Tarot Card Decks: Final Thoughts
When browsing through interesting anime tarot card decks, the choices are exciting but confusing, fun but questionable, colorful but unusual. Anime is a Japanese form of animated media. The storylines talk about many things, but often a level of fantasy can be found at the core of most anime.
I love anime and tarot readings, but it was a great challenge to combine my passion for two things that don’t seem to line up at first. Sure, I know now how anime closely relates to some tarot concepts, but it was once just an adult, guilty pleasure type of cartoon in my mind.
Once I realized how anime and tarot readings collide in beautifully intricate artwork, I had to decide how to choose the right deck. For someone who appreciates the elements of both passions, I had to include reviews, my level of magnetism to each deck, and the pros and cons before I could choose one. The original art on these decks is exquisite, and it was so hard to choose a favorite.
With some effort, I’ve chosen three decks that work well with my spreads and magnetism. However, my favorite has to be the Mystical Manga Tarot Deck for various reasons, ranging from artwork to magnetism to popularity. I’ll share my favorite and most interesting anime tarot card decks with you, so you can also choose a favorite.
The Collision of Japanese Anime and Tarot Passions
I strongly believe that interesting collective meanings and facts can help you decide better whether anime tarot cards are for you. You’re likely into tarot readings if you’re here. However, are you also into the Japanese form of creating entertaining television?
It matters because tarot cards and decks must attract your soul for the readings to be most accurate. It would be best if you felt a psychic connection for the readings to lead to manifestations. Intentions matter, but the magnetism between you and the deck allows universal energy to manifest more easily into your soul and mind.
The way your deck connects with you allows you to utilize your inner wisdom and guidance to help you manifest the readings. Your soul and inner wisdom are a part of the divine universe, so choosing a deck that doesn’t attract your passion or soul won’t lead to good experiences.
That’s why you should understand anime tarot cards from both angles. Tarot cards are a divination gateway, answer-seeking, guidance system. How do anime concepts come close to this? Although the first anime film only came out in 1971, the inspiration hails from ancient times.
Japanese people strongly believe in divination, universal energy, and even fortune-telling. They’re deeply spiritual and seek answers to the universe’s most demanding questions. They’re also constantly on a journey of self-growth, enlightenment, and cultural flourishment.
The connections between Japanese culture, from which anime originates, and the divination process of tarot card readings are clearer. Many anime programs can be linked to supernatural forces, elemental manipulation, and beings beyond our natural realm. Anime and tarot cards have more in common than you think.
Rating Anime Tarot Card Decks
I cannot emphasize enough that tarot decks must align with your inner urges, causing a magnetic attraction or bond between you. However, if you’re new to anime decks or you’re dabbling with tarot cards for the first time, this is the system I use to rate my decks before choosing one.
On a side note, there are wonderful decks available for beginners. There are also great spreads for beginners. I have numerous tarot decks, which I use for various reasons, one of my favorites being the popular Rider Waite-Smith deck. Nevertheless, for anime decks, I designed this rating system to calculate each score out of five:
Personal Bonding Prominence
Quite simply, if I feel an attraction to bond with a deck, I give it a single point. My attraction may be based on my passion for anime artwork, but I’m also a deeply divine person who feels energy with my entire soul.
Price Range
Tarot decks should not cost an arm and a leg! A good price range is between $10 and $30. The deck gains another point if it’s reasonably priced.
Availability or Reliability
It doesn’t help to seek a rare deck for which you can’t find replacements should you lose a card. Widely available decks from well-known artists will receive another point on my system.
Online Reviews
The opinion of people using a deck is the most influential factor for choosing the right one. Etsy and Amazon sell anime decks, and they’re reliable enough to see who rates which deck higher. I give a deck another point if it maintains more than a 70% 5-star average on Amazon after more than 100 reviews.
Oracle Cards Versus Tarot Decks
Full tarot decks contain 78 cards, including 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana. I don’t totally oppose oracle decks, but they contain fewer cards, meaning you can’t always get the answer you desire. I give full decks a point, and oracle decks get no point.
The final count of each anime tarot card deck will be out of five.
The 5 Most Interesting Anime Tarot Card Decks
Considering the elements of combining anime and divination certainly piques your interest, but using my rating system and best choices will properly guide you.
1. Mystical Manga Tarot Deck
Why must everything be backward? Of course, I’ll start with my favorite. The Mystical Manga Tarot Deck created by Barbara Moore and Rann maintains a wonderful 88% 5-star review on Amazon after more than 1,700 readers rated it. It also falls comfortably in the price range at $22.80.
This mystical anime tarot deck expresses the heart and soul of Japanese graphic novels with intricate designs for elaborate readings. I instantly felt drawn to the deck, and it’s widely popular and easily available from Amazon, Etsy, and even Walmart. It’s a full deck that comes with a 216-page guide, making it a good choice for beginners.
Inspired by the Rider Waite-Smith deck, it’s used for personal readings, to find adventure, seeking answers to pressing questions, and understanding a bothersome situation in your life. The Manga depictions allow for easy interpretations, and the deck works well in most spreads.
Pros
- It’s a beautiful deck that makes bonding simpler.
- The colors are vibrant enough to strike emotional connections.
- It uses Shouja-style manga with plenty of bows, ribbons, gowns, flowering hair, and flower petals.
- It’s a good option for women, particularly younger women with audacious ambitions or adventurous souls.
- It still incorporates traditional tarot symbolism for easy interpretations.
- The guidebook has a page dedicated to each card, being extensive on the definitions of each position when it comes to the Major Arcana.
- The book has a silk cover.
- The deck’s box has a convenient magnetic clasp.
Cons
- The cards are thin, making them easy to bend and break (which can be avoided if you shuffle them correctly).
- You can’t buy the deck alone without purchasing the book again.
- All the court cards are male apart from the queen.
- Some cards have similar colors, which some readers don’t like too much.
- Some people don’t like the heavy gloss finish of the book or cards.
Interesting Fact: The Mystical Manga Anime Tarot Deck may look like something for quick readings drawn by animators, but it’s a serious deck that provides extensive divination in most spreads. Don’t be fooled by the gorgeous and colorful artwork. This deck is as elaborate as the Rider Waite-Smith and Hermetic decks.
Overall Rating: 5/5
2. Traditional Manga Tarot Deck
The Traditional Manga Tarot Deck is a close second fave of mine. It was created by Shou Xueting and Riccardo Minetti and is a full 78-card deck. It also maintains an 87% 5-star review on Amazon, and it captures imaginative energy while balancing shadow energy for serious readings.
The deck offers soft surrealism, most common with Manga depictions, and the beautiful artwork feels attractive to my soul. It’s another popular deck you can easily find on Amazon, Etsy, and in local stores. The playful nature of Manga intertwines with the deep meanings of true tarot symbolism in every detail.
This deck bonds well with people seeking guidance, answers, and solutions to current situations. It also follows the Rider Waite-Smith symbolic style to provide beginners and advanced readers with elaborate interpretations, and it costs $22.46. It comes with a box and an instructional booklet.
Pros
- You can feel the divine attachment from the deck as it illustrates simple-to-read interpretations in beautiful artwork.
- The archetypal strength of tarot cards is depicted well in this deck.
- It’s a true-reading deck with simple but extensive symbolism.
- Each character or card additionally expresses a unique personality beyond the meaning.
- The deck has a primordial vibe, allowing for a more relaxed and natural spread.
- The artwork is eye-catching.
- The deck is of better quality than the Mystical Manga Tarot Deck.
- The cards are thick, similar to a Lo Scarabeo Deck, making this a better deck for daily divination.
- The cards aren’t slippery or too glossy.
- The deck offers a neutral plain for all belief systems.
Cons
- The booklet doesn’t contain enough information for each card, making it a hard deck for beginners unless they learn the cards.
- It might not strike a serious bond with the reader if they don’t love the playfulness or positivity of the Manga illustrations.
- The male figures seem a little plain.
Interesting Fact: Western trope meets deep-seated Eastern symbolism in this deck as each card makes up part of an ongoing story. It’s called the traditional deck because it’s based on traditional forms of Manga, which unfold like a novel. The meanings of each card are believed to be deeper than the Rider Waite-Smith deck.
Overall Rating: 5/5
3. Shadowscapes Tarot Deck
Created by Barbara Moore and Stephanie Pui-Mun Law, the Shadowscapes Anime Tarot Deck is my third favorite for reading. The deck isn’t traditional anime as it includes inspiration from Eastern cultures and their art form, but it also includes folklore and Celtic figures like mermaids.
The exquisite blend of fantasy and mystical creations, bringing East and West together, is phenomenally illustrated in an anime-style fashion with watercolors. The full 78-card deck is easily available on Amazon and Etsy, and it maintains a strong 84% 5-star rating after over 1,300 reviews. It costs $21.59.
The bonding experience was a little more challenging for me. I didn’t bond immediately, but it came when I set stronger intentions. This deck requires focused intention, but it works well for divining the current situation, seeing solutions where you couldn’t before, and answering your questions.
Pros
- The beautifully detailed artwork engages clear symbolism to improve interpretations.
- It encumbers mythical, Celtic, anime, fantasy, and folklore elements in each card.
- Each card contains rich and luxurious watercolor details while still emphasizing the symbols needed for divination.
- Each character displays rhythmic movements, smooth and bewitching.
- Each card also has a nymph, fairy, or dryad, making the cards give new meaning to each reading.
- It’s an awesome deck for advanced readers.
- It comes with a booklet that gives meaning to each card.
- The booklet also contains recommended spreads by Barbara Moore.
- There are no scary cards in this beautiful deck.
- The deck has potent and positive energy.
Cons
- Bonding with this deck requires strong and purposeful intentions.
- The deck is overwhelmingly charming, which may lead to the distraction of your intentions.
- This isn’t a deck well-suited to beginners as it needs deliberate thinking and mindful direction.
- The cards may seem busy and hard to read at first.
- The cardstock is thinner than it used to be.
Interesting Fact: The artwork and characters aren’t what you’d expect. The wands suit shows a fox as the main figure, the cups have an Eastern flair with mermaids and koi fish, and the swords suit has many swans. The pentacles are illustrated with mystical creatures like elves, dragons, and fauns.
Each suite also follows a color, but the Major Arcana are all uniquely colored, mostly blue and purple. The death card is also different from the Rider Waite-Smith cards. A phoenix replaces the death card, elaborating the meaning better, which is an impending change.
The high priestess also stands in an active position as opposed to the passive one in other decks, and the strength and justice cards become VIII and XI, respectively. This deck is certainly reserved for more advanced readers, but the secret is to maintain your focus on each card’s main figure or message.
Overall Rating: 4/5
4. Witchling Academy Tarot Deck
Pop culture meets anime in this tarot deck inspired by the popular Japanese cartoon of the same name. This deck isn’t as detailed as the other anime packs, so it may suit a beginner who wants to learn how to read cards. The Witchling Academy Anime Tarot Deck was created by Mindy Zhang and Pamela Chen and published by Llewellyn.
The price etches in at $25.47, but I didn’t feel attracted to this deck. It’s a full 78-card deck, but it was only recently released, making it easy to buy online. The ratings only reach 76% 5-star reviews on Amazon, which may be due to it being so new. This deck feels a little flimsy in design, but it brings pop culture into the mix.
You get a feel of Harry Potter redesigned in anime when you spread these cards. The accompanying booklet also reads much like a welcome manual for a new wizard at Hogwarts. However, the deck still exudes wonderful energy, and it’s great for divination, answers, and fun readings with friends.
Pros
- The deck feels like it takes you on a magical journey to a mystical and young place.
- You feel like the apprentice unfolding throughout the story.
- The fool moves through all the cards, which he does in most decks, but he constantly moves in this deck.
- The booklet gives you brief overviews of each card’s symbols, meaning, and direction.
- The cardstock fits neatly into the booklet.
- The deck is easy to shuffle with a balanced glossy effect.
- It can divine great life lessons, even if the cartoon-like cards look childish.
Cons
- This deck almost seems like a game more than a serious read.
- The artwork is plain and leaves much to the imagination.
- You need a strong sense of direction when reading these cards due to the lack of details.
- The guidebook can seem like a book you read from cover to cover, which isn’t how divination works.
- The cardstock is a little flimsy.
Interesting Fact: The Witchling Academy Tarot Card Deck also steers away from the traditional Rider Waite-Smith deck in the sense that each suit represents a different form of magic. The courts of each suite are the leaders of each magical element. Again, this deck is fun to play with but not a serious read.
The wands represent the fire element; the cups represent potions; the pentacles represent nature and healing, while the swords represent physical prowess and combat. The back of each card showcases each suit forming an arrow toward the Major Arcana, which is useful because the Major Arcana interpret the main message.
Overall Rating: 3/5
5. Manga Tarot by Lo Scarabeo
Lo Scarabeo designed the Manga Tarot Deck from the Rider Waite-Smith style to bring Japanese illustrations to the Western world, not confused with the Traditional Manga Tarot Deck. The biggest challenge is that the deck’s booklet has only been available in Spanish for a while. We’ll find English again, but we wait.
The language issue causes the deck to be rare to find right now. However, the deck maintains an 86% 5-star rating after 100 reviews and only costs $23.95. I didn’t bond well with this deck, but I only sat with it in a store. I haven’t completed a full reading with this deck yet.
The cards are based on Manga’s traditional romance and passion side, making it a wonderful deck for divination and directions in seeking a soulmate or solving problems.
Pros
- Lo Scarabeo is a famous tarot card author with many other popular decks and books.
- The deck is beautifully detailed with elaborate symbolism and esoteric energy.
- It captures a more traditional essence of tarot card decks.
- The cards are designed in the Eastern yin-yang fashion to allow balanced energy to oppose and uplift each other.
- This deck is great for transcendence and breaking through limiting beliefs that stand in your way of enlightenment or growth.
- The booklet explains each card’s meaning and varying interpretations in different positions.
- The aura of mystery surrounding this deck remains a little traditional, making it a better option for advanced readers.
Cons
- The symbolism might be too complicated for beginners.
- The cardstock is thick, but it bends easily.
- The booklet is useful, but it’s a simple black and white manual.
- Some people don’t like the gender switches, especially between the emperor and empress.
- Some symbols feel misplaced or inaccurate, especially on the tower and the lovers.
Interesting Fact: Due to the yin-yang oppositions in the Manga Tarot Deck, men appear feminine, and women appear masculine. The Japanese believed that every man has a bit of woman inside and vice versa, much like every bit of good has some evil and vice versa.
The cards offer an additional method for enhancing your readings as they each contain Asian character letters that represent seasons. Seasons and elements play a huge role in your interpretations and the divine messages you receive from your deck. Astrology is closely related to your deck and readings.
Overall Rating: 3/5
Recommended Products to Add to Anime Tarot Decks
Beginners and advanced readers can make the most of each spread by better understanding the symbols of tarot cards. Sure, most decks come with a booklet, but the symbols can have vaster interpretations. The more you understand them, the better your divination will become. Anime symbolism isn’t always clear in all decks.
- How to Read Tarot: A Modern Guide by Jessica Wiggan
This book is a great addition for beginners, and it comes in Kindle and paperback. This highly recommended book on Amazon only costs $13.16, and it maintains an 89% 5-star rating after 2,550 reviews.
- The Tarot Companion: A Portable Guide to Reading the Cards for Yourself and Others by Liz Dean
Available in hardcover and on Kindle, this is another exceptional addition for seasoned and beginner tarot card readers, and it costs $13.59. It also maintains an 86% 5-star rating after more than 1,000 reviews.
- Guided Tarot: A Beginner’s Guide to Card Meanings, Spreads, and Intuitive Exercises for Seamless Readings by Stefanie Caponi
Caponi’s paperback is a wonderful addition to learning about spreads and exercises, which is handy with the anime collection. It costs $14.39 and maintains an 89% 5-star rating after more than 1,000 reviews.
Spreading Tips for Anime Decks
There are countless methods to spread tarot cards, depending on what you wish to achieve. Some people want answers about a pressing situation, while others want guidance on which direction they should take in an upcoming venture. These are the spreads I recommend with anime tarot cards to simplify interpretations:
The seven-card horseshoe spread is good for:
- Beginners and advanced readers
- The pursuit of detailed interpretations
- Seeing past and present influences
- Noticing the attitudes of people around you
- Solving a problem based on your current situation
- Seeing the eventual outcome of your situation
The five-card soulmate spread is used for:
- Beginners and advanced readers
- Clearing your mind about a relationship
- Seeking answers about a potential soulmate
- Understanding misconceptions about a partner
- Seeing past and future influences on your relationships
The 12-month tarot spread is used for:
- Beginners and advanced readers
- Reading your own cards only
- Seeing the way the next year will unfold
- Understanding the ups and downs of each coming month
Be Careful: The 12-month spread is useful to see the developments of the coming year, but the months will only unfold as you read if nothing changes drastically in your life, relationships, or goals.
The three-card spread is used for:
- Beginners and advanced readers
- Daily reading
- Reflecting on the past, assessing the present, and planning for the future (also only if nothing changes drastically in your life)
- Suggesting a path for your inner wisdom
- Seeking an answer to the first card on the left
- Divining the past, present, and future state of relationships, love, money, and careers
- Making conclusive decisions about a situation
The new moon tarot spread is used for:
- Beginners and advanced readers
- Aligning your intentions with the new moon to enhance your readings with an astrology element
- Manifesting your desires and intentions
- Finding new directions in old journeys
- Moving forward from disturbing energies
- Putting new goals in motion
These spreads work well with anime tarot decks, and beginners can use them.
Frequently Asked Questions
Question: Are Anime Tarot Decks Accurate?
Answer: The accuracy of tarot cards depends on your intentions, focus, and inner desires. You direct the cards once you bond with them, so every deck can be as accurate as you want it to be. Anime decks are no different. You just have to trust the cards and interpretations.
Question: Is There an Anime Series Produced From Tarot Cards?
Answer: JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure is a Manga series inspired by tarot cards and psychic elements. The Joestar family are possessed with intense psychic abilities as they venture into numerous journeys. You can even see characters inspired by tarot, such as the hierarchy within the family. The stand Iggy is modeled from the fool.
Question: What is the Strongest Card in an Anime Deck?
Answer: The fool is known to be the miscreant in every deck of tarot cards as he moves through other cards, influencing the interpretations of each one. He’s a risky card that offers opposite interpretations in upright and reversed positions. The fool is one of the most important cards in any deck.
Interesting Anime Tarot Card Decks: Final Thoughts
Anime and tarot cards offer a balance between mystical and ancient elemental forces, allowing you to use the right deck for serious divination. The plainer decks are rightfully rated lower as they’re more likely to be fun while playing with your friends. However, the more serious decks offer powerful interpretations.
My love for the artistry created in such a colorful and ancient culture like Japan is abundant. My passion for finding direction in my life with tarot cards matches my love for the culture. Combining the two passions is explosively satisfying for me. I’d highly recommend the Mystical Manga Tarot Deck if you don’t own it yet.